Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

In Canada, energy is one of the most critical factors for the growth of the nation's economy. However, much of Canada's and the world's energy is derived from burning fossil fuel, which has a major impact on the environment, especially in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) - a major greenhouse gas - that is emitted, leading to global warming and climate change. Currently, a large amount of CO2 is being produced from industrial sources such as coal-fired power plants, etc. To overcome the CO2 emission problem in industry, there is great interest, especially in western Canada, in capturing CO2 and utilizing it as a flooding agent for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions has two important benefits: (i) the captured CO2 can be marketed as a commodity, especially for EOR, offsetting the cost of reducing emissions; and (ii) we will be able to make the large-scale emission reductions necessary to meet reduction targets, which are set so as to mitigate as much as possible the damage anticipated to occur as a result of climate change. The long-term goal of the proposed research program is to develop more effective CO2 separation processes for separating CO2 from industrial gas streams, such those produced by coal-fired power plants and oil-sand facilities, at significantly lower capital and operating costs and with minimal operating problems. Another long-term objective is to develop and maintain a strong research group in Canada that is focused on issues of CO2 production for EOR and CO2 greenhouse gas control technologies in order to serve Canadian industries and communities, especially in western Canada where fossil fuel production is the primary economic driver and where reliance on fossil fuel combustion for electricity is both significant and, at present, necessary. This research program is expected to produce more effective and efficient CO2 separation technologies, better understanding of high efficiency gas treating systems, and tools to enable industry to implement and operate CO2 capture processes at greatly reduced costs. Ultimately, the research is expected to achieve significant savings in both capital and operating costs for CO2 separation processes.